Hong Kong exams body to file police report over alleged online leak of test content

Reports claim user on mainland China’s Xiaohongshu platform allegedly uploaded question and answer book of this year’s English-language listening test

Screenshot showed user claimed to be educator at secondary school in Hong Kong and taught online tutorial classes for students newly arrived from mainland

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Students sit a portion of the university entrance exam. The alleged leak was first exposed in a DSE forum on Dcard, an online social media platform based in Taiwan, according to the Facebook post. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:49pm, 16 Apr 2024Updated: 11:54pm, 16 Apr 2024

Hong Kong’s examination authority has said it will file a report to police after content from the ongoing university entrance tests was allegedly leaked on a popular social media platform in mainland China by a self-proclaimed teacher.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority was responding on Tuesday to reports that a user on the popular Instagram-like Xiaohongshu platform had allegedly uploaded the question and answer book for this year’s English-language listening test.

“The [authority] is seriously following up with cases of people reposting or posting the content of examination questions on the internet and will report them to the police,” its spokesman said. “If it is confirmed that an examination personnel has breached the confidentiality agreement, we will take appropriate follow-up actions in accordance with the established procedures.”

According to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority Ordinance, all officers appointed or employed by the body, including examination personnel for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams, are required to maintain confidentiality with respect to what they learn in the course of carrying out their duties.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority has reminded all officers at examination centres they are prohibited from reposting or posting exam questions in any form without approval. Photo: May Tse

A Facebook page under the name Edu Lancet on Monday wrote that an account on Xiaohongshu had posted photos of the exam questions with a watermark that read “Ms. Lucy” and a caption saying the invigilation of the exam had been completed.

The post was first exposed in a DSE forum on Dcard, an online social media platform based in Taiwan, according to the Facebook post.